Thirty-nine years ago, this was a huge deal. National Guardsmen fired on civilians at a university. The victims were just entering into adulthood. Their lives were cut short by fascism. Today, seeing military personnel in camouflage uniforms in the city streets is almost common. Relatively few people seem to raise an eyebrow over this, or over the deployment of soldiers into cities in preparation for potential citizen uprisings.
I was at the Naval Academy. I spent most of my time with my wife-to-be arguing about radicalism. I felt we were just kids (still feel we were) and that Nixon was doing the best he could. At least one of those kids was simply changing classes, not even involved in politics. Either Nixon or Agnew called them “bums.” That did it for me. From then on, my arguments were with my classmates. I ended up out of the navy as a conscientious objector.
Bless her for her humanity–her wild grieving for a complete stranger.
Do you think that photo would stand half a chance of wide circulation today? You’d have to go on the web to see it.
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and sometimes a picture can change the world.
Thirty-nine years ago, this was a huge deal. National Guardsmen fired on civilians at a university. The victims were just entering into adulthood. Their lives were cut short by fascism. Today, seeing military personnel in camouflage uniforms in the city streets is almost common. Relatively few people seem to raise an eyebrow over this, or over the deployment of soldiers into cities in preparation for potential citizen uprisings.
I was at the Naval Academy. I spent most of my time with my wife-to-be arguing about radicalism. I felt we were just kids (still feel we were) and that Nixon was doing the best he could. At least one of those kids was simply changing classes, not even involved in politics. Either Nixon or Agnew called them “bums.” That did it for me. From then on, my arguments were with my classmates. I ended up out of the navy as a conscientious objector.
Bless her for her humanity–her wild grieving for a complete stranger.
Do you think that photo would stand half a chance of wide circulation today? You’d have to go on the web to see it.